So Damn Easy
by the-never-ender
Summary: One summer, two guys, and a whole lot of temptations can make Adriana's life change in a heartbeat. Featuring Alex Gaskarth All Time Low and John O'Callaghan The Maine ! R&R, please!
1. Don't Give Me That Look!

John and Alex crawled out of the school window. I watched them grasping on to each other as they were sliding down the roof. I could never understand them. The teachers were flipping out and called the principal. The students however would occasionally look up and continued on walking home. They were used to this scenery.

The principal came by my side and saw what was happening. Luckily the both of them made it and landed safely on the ground. After that, they ran off campus. I wasn't sure why they did that in the first place. Possibly wanting to get attention from the girls, but school was over for the summer and John and Alex were far from school grounds.

John O'Callaghan was one of the dudes who were interested in taking risk. Alex Gaskarth was the same. Both of them together equaled mayhem. I wasn't sure if they knew me. Well, they probably knew me from their classes since we had Physics and Psychology together. They always sat in the back while I sat in the front along with my best friend, Cassie. I always heard them snickering at the each other and throwing paper planes. I even remembered one time they did a presentation for Physics on projectiles. Their projectile: a vibrator. Target: the V. My Physics teacher was so fed up that she even tried to get them out of her class, but she failed. The principal told her that they needed the class for their credits. I thought she almost threw herself over the bridge. At least she wouldn't have them anymore in class next year unless if she was the one who was going to teach Chemistry, which was a required class for senior year.

Aside from the school aspect, both of them were chick magnets. All the girls at the school loved them, even though they were known for breaking hearts. I guess one night with one of them was worth it… to the girls at the school, anyway. As for me, I was not really attracted to both of them…okay maybe a little to John, but not to Alex. Alright, Alex was not bad looking either. He would always give "I know you want me" looks to girls and their panties dropped. If this would happen outside of school, for sure those girls would drop more than their panties. Alex gave me those looks during our Homecoming assembly, but failed miserably. I couldn't be tricked. Maybe he was staring at the girl beside who was wearing the extremely short skirt and a tube top. Then again, the girl who was sitting by me slept with him that night. He was infamously known to sleep with girls and leave them the next day. John was more subtle than Alex when it came to this kind of subject. He would befriend the girl first, then fire. They both had different techniques to get girls, but I would never fall for any of them.

I walked out of the school, knowing that the teachers were still asking me if I knew who crawled out of the window in September. I kept telling them "no," but they thought I was an accomplice to John and Alex's scheme. Why would I want to help two dudes I didn't even care about? Luckily, the security and teachers gave up and started asking other students. Alex and John didn't even know me so why would I be an accomplice? I rolled my eyes at that thought and continued walking home. Finally school was over so I could escape from this madness called high school.

As I walked home, I saw Alex flirting with some girl who I've never seen before. She went to those super expensive private schools that made students wear uniforms. I could tell that the girl was interested since she kept hiking up her skirt every time Alex flashed a smile at her. I wasn't sure how Alex did it. He had her around his finger. John was flirting with another girl who was from our school, since she had this whole punk-rock look to her that they probably wouldn't allow in private schools. They were both beginning their summer with their first of many summer romances. It was wrong, but so right to those two. They probably hooked up with every girl in this town except Cassie and me. She has a boyfriend so they wouldn't lay a finger on her. Maybe I should find a boyfriend.

Alex saw me walked by. He just gave me that look again. Was he trying to get two girls in one take? My panties weren't dropping so he gave up. Wow, that was a complete fail for him. John smiled and continued talking to the girl. Not anyone or anything about them could ever change these feelings towards them. It would take A LOT to change my feelings towards Alex and John. A LOT.

**So here's the first chapter. I think more people from other bands will come in the story, but for now it's all about John O and Alex! This whole story is inspired by the song "Easy" by We Are The In Crowd. If you haven't listen to this song yet, you should! Review this chapter, please!**


	2. What Happens After a Baseball Game?

I sat down on the porch of my house, watching all of the kids playing on the street and squirting water at each other. I didn't know what to do for summer. Yesterday was my last day of school so it was three months of free time but Cassie was going on a vacation to Japan until August, my parents were going on a cruise for a week and going off on some vacation and the rest of the world had something to do over the summer except me. Damn my life was boring.

I stood up and walked around the neighborhood. I guess exercising was a start. I passed some houses and greeted some of my neighbors. As I was walking a little boy ran up to me.

"Ms. Lady ma'am?" the little boy looked up at me. "Can you help me?"

I kneeled down. "With what, young boy?"

He pointed at the oak tree with a toy airplane stuck on one of the branches. "My toy plane is stuck and I'm too little to get it."

"I'll get for you," I ran up to the tree and jumped to get the toy. It wasn't high so I didn't have to climb on it. I grabbed the toy and handed it to him. "Here you go."

"Thank you!" he replied and ran to his house. There was a guy who appeared to be his brother standing at the doorway. From the skinny jeans he was wearing to the short brown hair, I knew who he was.

He smiled and waved at me. I waved back and continued on walking to wherever I was going to. Maybe there was a good side to him? I ignored the thought and continued. Since I was close to the town park, I decided to go there and hang out. When I got there, more kids were playing around and some teenagers were making out. What a nice scene?

There was a baseball game going on so I sat down on the benches and watched them play. They were mostly kids who were my age playing. I felt a vibration coming from the stands. I turned around to see who it was.

It was the infamous Alex Gaskarth and his partner in crime, John O'Callaghan.

The two sat two rows behind me. I continued watching the game while Alex kept insulting the baseball players for being really crappy at playing the game. I had to admit, it was a pretty lame baseball game since the two teams sucked. Alex and John were talking a wide variety from girls to going to Warped Tour. Apparently, the both of them have been trying to go to the show, but never got the chance to watch it. I went to that tour two years in a row with my cousin, Harris.

After 30 minutes, the game was over and I went down the stands.

"Adriana!" John yelled. "Where are you going?"

I turned and saw John smiling at me. "I'm going home."

Alex stood up and went down the stands. What the hell was going on here? "You are going home on this very sunny day? It's the start summer for crying out loud," he draped his arm over my shoulder. "You should hang out with me and John."

John came by my side. "Yeah, hang with us and you'll have the best time of your freaking life!"

This was all too weird for me. I tried to slip off of Alex's arm, but he moved his arm down to my waist to tighten his grip. This was too close for comfort. "Well…," I lightly pushed Alex away from me. "I have plans, but I'm going home first then going out." I forced a smile at him.

"So, you don't want to hang out with me and Alex?" John leaned in. His face was inches to mine.

"No, sorry," I answered and walked off. Wow, that was the most awkward moment of my life. I didn't want to look back. I continued walking to my house in normal pace so it didn't look like I was running off from them. This was an interesting start to my summer. Hopefully, that would not happen again.


	3. A New Neighbor and a Hidden Secret

I woke up the next morning with the sound of the doorbell. I checked what time it was. It was already 10 o'clock. I got up from my bed and wore my hoodie. I didn't know who the heck was ringing the doorbell since everyone I knew was gone for the summer. I looked through the door hole to see who it was.

It was a boy around my age with black hair emo hair and was skinny and tall. I've never seen him before. I opened the door.

"Hey," the boy greeted.

"Hey, can I help you with anything?" I asked.

"Well, I just moved her with my family and I just wanted to meet up with the neighbors. I live right across from you," he pointed the house behind him. "My name is Jack by the way," he held out his hand.

"I'm Adriana," I shook his hand. "Welcome to the neighborhood."

Jack grinned. "Thanks, um, are you going to Hawthorne High next year as a senior?"

"Yeah, are you?" he nodded. "I guess you're graduating with my class," I smiled. "Who else have you met here?"

"Umm…" he scratched his head. "I only met you because I saw you yesterday and…you seemed like a nice person so I wanted to meet you."

"Well, you met me. I'm not really an interesting person, though," I grinned. "I just like going to shows and stuff like that."

"Have you been to Warped Tour?"

"Hell yeah, that was the best day of my life!"

Jack laughed. "Well that's good to know. That must means you listen to good music."

"Yup," I chuckled.

"Jack! Help me carry the TV upstairs!" a girl yelled from across the street.

He rolled his eyes. "It looks like I have to carry more stuff. It was nice meeting you, Adriana. Maybe we can hang out later?"

I nodded. "Yeah that will be nice. See you later."

"Bye," Jack walked down the stairs and ran across the street. The girl who was yelling at Jack waved at me and smiled. She must be his sister.

I waved back and closed the door. Jack looked like a nice guy. He liked music and he also went to Warped Tour, the only two things we had in common. I barely knew the guy so I couldn't judge him. Besides, he was pretty cute. I took a shower and changed into some new clothes. Maybe this day would be way better than yesterday.

I walked out of the house and decided to go to the mall. I wanted to get away from the wraths of this neighborhood. I went to my car and drove there. The parking lot was pretty much empty. Since it was still early, not many people were there. Some stores were just opening up. I didn't feel like buying clothes or buying a CD. Instead, I window-shopped. I bought some Ben & Jerry's and walked around.

"Adriana," a familiar voice called behind me. The voice was too familiar. Crap, it must be Alex. I turned around. I was right once more. He smirked and gave me a hug. "How is my little princess doing?" he stroked my cheek.

I pushed him off me. "I seriously don't understand you or John. Why the hell are you annoying me like this?"

He crossed his arms. "The reason why I'm doing this to you because…" he paused. "John likes you and I kind of like you, too. We both just want to get to know you better."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not easy to get, unlike other girls you two have been with."

"So, your best friend Cassie is easy, too?"

I stared at him. "What? How did Cassie get in the picture?"

"Well, your little best friend cheated on her lovely boyfriend with, you guessed it!" Alex pointed himself.

"I don't believe you. Cassie will never do that."

"Oh really, do you remember the time at Homecoming when Cassie told you and her boyfriend, Carl or Lyle whatever his name is, that she didn't feel well? She told you guys she had cramps and stuff like that so she left early, right? She said her 'brother' was going to pick her up. Do you remember that, Adriana?" I didn't say anything. "Yeah, that night during Prom, I slept with Cassie. She was pretty experienced. I would rate her in my top ten," Alex leaned in closely to me. "You're best friend is not as faithful like you think she is, huh? She's just like the other sluts at school."

I slapped him across the face and walked off. I remembered the night so clearly. The words that Cassie told me and her boyfriend that she had cramps so her brother was going to pick her up. I couldn't believe it. I walked out of the mall completely and drove home. From the rear view mirror, I saw Alex running towards my car. I pressed on the gas and drove off. Luckily there wasn't a car parked in front of me so I was able to leave easily.

When I came back, I paced back and forth in the living room. Was this happening? If Alex was right and Cassie did sleep with him, she cheated on her long-time boyfriend and she was like every other girl in school. The doorbell rang.

I opened the door and Jack was smiling at me. "Hey, are you available now?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I walked out of the house and locked the door. "Let's go."

**So I did add another member from ATL in the mix because I wanted too!**


	4. From Now On We Are Enemies

Jack and I went to the beach. We sat down on the sand and watched the wave crash down on the shore. I wanted to talk to someone about the things I found out, but I didn't think that it would be overwhelming to tell him everything.

"So…" Jack broke the silence. "It seems like something is bothering you. You're not as smiley as you were this morning. What's up?"

"A lot of things are bothering me right now, but I don't want to talk about it," I played with the sand.

"Oh," he replied. "Well, if you feel comfortable talking about it, you can always talk to me. I live right across the street."

I smiled. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," he assured. "So, what do you want to talk about, then?"

I shrugged. "Well, I want to know about you. The only things I know about are the fact that you went to Warped Tour and like music. Oh yeah and your name. Is there more about you?"

Jack grinned. "There is more to me than a music lover. I came from the east coast, Baltimore to be exact. My family decided to move here in Seattle because my dad owns a business here. I have one sister and one brother. They are both older than me and I have an awesome mom who cooks awesome food. You should come over sometime," he paused. "What else about me that you need to know about? Oh yeah, I pretty much don't know anyone here except you and I also like to joke around a lot. Your turn."

"Well…I'm a native here in Seattle. I'm an only child. My parents like to travel a lot without me and a bunch of friends are in foreign countries over the summer. I like to cook, take pictures and write. I'm not a big fan of school because…I don't really like school in general. I tend to be shy at times if I'm at a party or some type of gathering, but if I really know the people there, I'm pretty talkative. Hmm… oh yeah, I like to play Madden on my PS2."

"Man, a girl who plays Madden? That's my type of girl," he laughed. "Your boyfriend is pretty lucky to have you."

"I don't have a boyfriend," I replied. "I used to in like the 9th grade but that was a waste of time."

"I'm surprised," Jack leaned back. "You look like the type of girl that attracts guys. You're pretty."

"Thanks, but I don't attract guys to me. There's a whole bunch of girls at our school that attracts a lot of guys, but they all want the same two though."

"The same two guys?" he raised an eyebrow. "Who are they?"

I sighed. "I don't want to say, but one of them was the reason why I was bothered."

"Oh, um, I'm really sorry," Jack got up and patted my back. "Things will get better."

I sure hope so, I thought to myself.

[John's POV]  
I sat down on the benches in the town park. Alex was supposed to meet me up here since he was going to tell me something interesting. Maybe it was about Adriana. Ugh, why couldn't I stop thinking about her? I knew she wouldn't like me since my reputation was tainted with sleeping with the girls at school and this rumor that I knocked up one of them. Hopefully it wasn't true. I wanted to have a chance with her. Adriana was really different than the other girls at school. Even her best friend, Cassie couldn't resist Alex. He has this longtime crush on Adriana. Did they hook up? Damn it! I needed to stop making up things.

Alex pulled up in his car and walked towards me at the benches. He had this smirk on his face. Great, what did he do this time?

"Adriana is pissed," Alex started off the conversation as he sat down beside me. "I told her the whole ordeal about Cassie. She couldn't believe that her little BFF had a dark side to her."

"Why did you tell her that?" I asked. "You know that she trusted Cassie."

"Why are you worried? Are you having real feelings for Adriana?" he asked. "You better fix that up because she will not like you. She will just think that you're going to use her to get your fix. After all, you're known for being a man-whore."

"Look who's talking," I said aggravated. "Besides, unlike you, I choose instead of grabbing the first girl I see. Adriana is different and she's single. Every girl wants a summer romance, right?"

"Whatever," Alex rolled his eyes. "Not if I get her, first."

"Is this a competition?" I asked.

"Hell yeah, this is a competition," he replied. "You know how much I like her. Whoever gets her first will be her boyfriend."

"Like a serious relationship," I replied. "You can't handle it."

"We may be friends, but you don't know everything about me," Alex's eyes narrowed. "From now on we are enemies, when it comes to this at least. Deal?" he held out his hand.

"Deal," I shook his hand. I was going to win this so easily.

**Throughout the story, point of views will switch around so expect that in the future chapters!**


	5. Can a ManWhore be Fixed?

[Alex's POV]

I knocked on Adriana's door. Hopefully she was going to answer since after the whole encounter at the mall. I was definitely a douche bag (I couldn't help myself) and that was going to give me a disadvantage in this competition. Why did I agree to do this in the first place? Maybe because I had feelings and I actually wanted to be her boyfriend. That was the whole reason why I slept with Cassie just to get to know Adriana better. I probably shouldn't have slept with Cassie, but I wanted a little extra something before I released her.

Adriana opened the door and glared at me. "What the hell are you doing at my house?"

"Is that how to greet your visitors?" I asked politely.

"That's how I treat man-whores," she proceeded to close the door.

I stopped it. "Look, this may not sound sincere since after that whole moment at the mall, but I'm sorry…for everything. I'm sorry I slept with Cassie and taunting you about it after I told you and I'm sorry for being a douche bag in all of the classes we had together. I'm sorry, I'm completely sorry," I paused. "I'm also sorry for giving you those weird looks, too. I don't think you're weird. You're a nice girl. I'm sorry for every single thing I've done to offend you."

Adriana gave me a suspicious look. "Do you want something from me? Actually don't answer that," she opened the door again. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Because I feel guilty for telling you all of those things," I rubbed my arm. "That was not a good way to start your summer."

"I'm not used to this, Alex," Adriana shook her head. "Give me some time to think about it."

"Okay," I replied. "I'll give you some time to think about it," I walked down the stairs. I knew Adriana was still staring at me. At least that was a start.

[Adriana's POV]

Whoa, that was a shocker. Alex Gaskarth coming to my house just to say sorry about everything… that was unexpected. He was even giving me some time to think about this whole thing, too. Normally, he would be impatient about it, but now he was not. There must be something going on that I didn't know about.

I walked out of my house and headed towards Jack's house. He was the only person I could talk to since everyone was gone and he was dude. He knew how dudes worked. I knocked on his door.

"Oh hey," Jack greeted as he opened his door. "What's up?"

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Alright, spill."

"Can a man-whore be fixed?"

He laughed at my question. "What? Can a man-whore be fixed? What do you mean by fixed?"

"As in changing his ways…" I replied. Now I was embarrassed that I asked him that, but I needed to know.

"It depends on what type of man-whore he is."

"There are different types of man-whores?"

"It can be a subtle man-whore to a total man-whore."

"I guess this guy can be a total man-whore. He pretty much did every girl at our school, except me."

"Hmm…" Jack rubbed his chin. "In this case, I don't think so. If you are the only girl he hasn't been with, yet, then I don't think he's fixed."

I knew it was too weird to be true.


	6. Schemes

[Adriana's POV]

What…the…hell? A dozen of red roses were on the porch of my house. Who the heck was going to drop me off flowers at nine in the morning? I checked the card that was attached to it. It was from John. Okay, there was something up now. Yesterday, Alex was apologizing on how much he was an asshole to me and now John was sending me flowers. Jack walked across the street and came up to my house. He saw the roses and grinned.

"So, who's the secret admirer?"

I sighed. "From John, this dude who goes to our school."

"John, huh," he looked at my expression. "You don't look too happy."

"I'm not a big fan of his," I placed the flowers down on the outside table. "I should probably tell you this whole ordeal about John and Alex."

"Whoa, there are two guys?" Jack asked. "Damn, was Alex the one who did every girl at our school?" I nodded. "So both of those dudes like you," I nodded once more. "That's a lot to take in," he sat down on the seats that were against the house.

I sat down next to him. "So, do you want me to tell you the whole story?"

He leaned back and nodded. "Sure, I want to know more about them."

[John's POV]

Adriana… you would soon be mine. I placed the flowers on her doorstep. Girls loved flowers so of course Adriana would love them, too. Life was good. Alex would have to work in order to win her heart. I didn't even think he has done anything to make her like him. He was pathetic when it came to love. I knew that Alex and I were going to be enemies for the rest of the summer, but in the end we were going to be friends again. This time, however, I was fighting to win Adriana.

[Adriana's POV]

"I think I have an idea," Jack said after I told him everything. "So do you want to hear the plan?"

"Sure, why not?" I replied.

He whispered me his plan in my ear. When he finished, he grinned. "Do you like it?"

"I just have to be good at it," I smiled. "But I like it. One target is enough."

"Just hold on tight," he draped his arm around my shoulder. "This will get crazy."


	7. Time Changes Everything

[Alex's POV]

Who the hell was Adriana with? Some lanky dude was wrapping his arms around her. That angered me. She was mine. I stormed my way to her house. The dude that she was with smiled and waved. Adriana smiled as well.

"Hey Alex, what brings you here?" she asked. She left the guy's arms and fell into mine. Whoa, I wasn't expecting that. She hugged me.

"I just wanted to say hello," I looked at Adriana. Her arms were still wrapped around me, but her eyes were gazing on mine. "I guess you're still mad at me?"

She pulled away. "I'm still pretty mad, but I'll forget about it soon."

The lanky dude came up behind her. "So, who's your friend here?" he asked Adriana.

"He's Alex. My classmate from school," she replied. "This is Jack by the way," she told me.

"Nice to meet you," I held my hand out.

"Nice to meet you, too," Jack shook it.

"I guess I'll see you later then," I told Adriana. "I just wanted to check up on you."

"Alright, see you later," Adriana waved at me while I walked away. I looked back at her. She was flirting with Jack. I continued walking away and headed towards my place. I would probably visit her again without Jack being there. I wonder what his relationship was with that jerk. Hopefully they weren't dating. I wondered what changed Adriana. Yesterday, she was annoyed with me, but now she was actually interested in me. I didn't even give her the look. Well, the look wouldn't work on her, but still.

I looked back at Adriana again. This time she was looking at me. Jack went back to his place probably since he wasn't with her. She just watched me. I was so distracted. I tripped over something and fell to the pavement. My back was against the floor and I knew she saw that. I saw a shadow coming my way.

"Dude, are you okay?" Adriana pulled me up.

I got up and brushed off the dirt from my shirt. "I'm fine," I blushed a little bit. Why the heck am I like this around her? "So I see that you care for me," I grinned.

She stepped away. "I saw you falling over so I couldn't ignore you. That would be mean if I just watched you fall and laugh, although I was so close to doing that," she smiled.

"At least you're being honest," I assured. "Umm…" I couldn't think of anything else to say. "So…are you available now?"

Adriana laughed and nodded. "Yeah, Jack had to go somewhere so I'm available."

"Okay, do you want to go to the mall?"

"Sure," she replied.

We walked to my place to get the car. I was curious about Adriana's behavior. She actually wanted to come with me to the mall. I just ignored the thought. I was way ahead of John in this competition since I was hanging out with her. Unless…

"Is Jack the only person you've been hanging out lately?" I asked. We made it to my place and went inside my car.

"Yeah, he's been the only person who I've been hanging out with since everyone is on vacation for the summer," she explained. "Why are you asking?"

"Oh, I was just curious," I started the car and headed towards the mall. "You guys are a cute couple."

Adriana raised an eyebrow. "A cute couple? Alex, Jack and I are not even dating," she grinned. "Are you jealous?"

"What? No, I was wondering what your relationship was with Jack. Is it bad for me to ask?"

"No, it's just I never had anyone interested in my love life before."

We both stayed in silence for the rest of the way until we reached the mall. We both got out of the car and walked inside the mall. Just yesterday Adriana slapped me across the face in this very place and now we were going here together. Time changed everything.

[Adriana's POV]

I couldn't believe I was doing this. This was all set up to put revenge against him for all of the things he has done to me, Cassie and every girl at Hawthorne High. I couldn't really plot revenge against John since he was slightly nicer and decent even though there was a rumor that he knocked up some girl. I would think about him later. This time it was all about Alex. He was a total douche bag to everyone. I just needed him to fall hard for me and not like what he did earlier when he fell on the pavement. I needed him to fall hard for me and that was when I would break his little heart. The only thing for me to do was not fall for him. That was going to be a piece of cake.


	8. WFT? He LOVES me!

**Sorry for the long chapter!**

[Adriana's POV]

"It's the broken heart that scares me," I explained to Alex. We were sitting at a table in the food court eating pizza. "Maybe that's why I can't really like someone."

"What does it take for you to like someone in that way?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't really know. First of all, they have to be really honest and trustworthy. I can't have a guy that goes around…no offense."

"Hey," Alex grinned. "Are you saying that I go around?"

I chuckled. "Well…I do hear a lot of things and plus what you told me yesterday," I took a sip from my soda. "I do think you go around. I don't think I'm able to handle a guy with that kind of reputation."

"Maybe you can," he reached out for my hand. "I'm able to change my ways for someone like you."

I pulled my hand away. "I wonder how many times you say that to every girl you've been with," I stood up and walked away. I couldn't be doing this. I was trying to have him like me and now I was walking away from him. I hated it when my true emotions get to me. I knew he wouldn't…

"Wait," Alex grabbed my arm. "I know that I'm not really the guy who cares in a relationship," he held both of my hands. "But that was the first time I ever said that to a girl. You're different than other girls. You will be in the relationship for the love, not for the sex or the making out or any physical stuff. I really do mean it when I say that I'm willing to change."

I felt my heart beat fast. I couldn't fall for him. I released from his grip and walked out of the mall. I didn't have a ride home so I had to ride the bus home. Luckily the bus that came to my place pulled up at the stop just when I walked out. I rode the bus home. I needed to stop this scheme. I knew when my heart beats fast, feelings were coming in. I wasn't good at this.

My cell phone rang. Jack was calling me. I answered the phone.

"Jack, I messed up."

"It's fine. You don't have to go through this. It was a stupid plan," Jack assured. "I don't want you to go through something like this. Are you going home?"

"Yeah, I'm riding the bus home. I'm almost there," I sighed. "I thought it was going to be easy. Maybe I should try this on John. Maybe he will be…"

"No! Don't make spontaneous decisions without thinking about it first."

The bus stopped by my neighborhood. "I'm going to see you in five minutes, okay?"

"Alright," Jack hung up the phone.

I walked out of the bus and headed to my place. Hopefully Alex didn't get back here yet. I paced through the neighborhood. I saw Jack coming towards me. He had a worried look on his face. "Quit the plan," he started. "Before this gets any crazier," we headed towards my house. We both went in the house. Jack took a seat on the couch while I took a seat on the chair next to it. Jack looked at me while I stared off into space. "Are you falling for him?" I didn't answer. "Then we have to abort the plan. I don't want you to get hurt," I was going to say something but Jack cut me off again. "Don't try this on John. I don't want you to get into any more trouble."

Someone knocked on the door. We both stayed in silent, letting the person knock for five more minutes until silence came. I walked up quietly to the window and checked who it was. Alex walked down the stairs and left. Jack opened the door after Alex was completely gone. "He left an envelope for you," he pulled the envelope from the door and handed it to me. There was something bumpy in the in envelope. I opened it up and a ring came out of it along with a note. The ring was silver and had a heart pendant. I read the note.

_I meant everything I said at the mall. Let's take a chance, let's make it right for the both of us. The ring I gave you symbolizes if you are going to give me another chance. If you wear it, you will give me another chance. If you give it back to me, I won't bother you anymore. I just want to let you know that I really like you and I want to get to know you better. I will change for you if that's what it takes to get you to talk to me._

_Alex_

Jack read the letter from behind me. "That's deep," he replied after reading the letter. "It almost made me forget he was a douche."

I closed the letter and placed it inside the envelope. I still held the ring in my hand. It almost felt like one of those promise rings you would give to that special someone and telling them that one day they would marry you. No matter how cheesy it was, I thought it was thoughtful. Looking back at this whole thing, I had the whole summer to do this. I needed to teach him a lesson. He was a professional at getting girls drop their pants. Damn, he almost made me drop mine after this freaking letter. The look was not the only strategy he had up in his sleeves. I needed to learn more about his kind. Whoa, this almost sounded like I was a scientist observing a new species. A dangerous species that could possibly ruin my life in a matter of minutes, like all the girls he has been with including Cassie. Maybe that was why she was so depressed after prom night. Maybe that was why she was so depressed for the rest of the school year. Maybe Alex was the whole reason why she was in Japan for the whole summer just to avoid him. I wanted him to feel alone and broken hearted or some kind of negative feeling that would…

"Adriana?" Jack interrupted my thoughts. "Someone's knocking on the door again. It's some dude that's not Alex."

I opened the door. John was standing in front of the door and smiled. "Hey," he greeted. "You got the roses I sent you?"

"Yeah, uh, they're lovely," I replied. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Umm… I need to tell you something. Alex will kill me if I say this but he sort of went to my house and…professed his love for you."

WTF? "Wait, what?" I stuttered.

"I need to tell you the whole story about you, me and Alex," he began explaining the deal that they had surrounding me. He told me they both had crushes on me and made a deal that whoever I chose to be with would be the winner and be my boyfriend and things like that, but he didn't realize how deep this competition was going too far than expected. "I gave up so my best friend can have some kind of peace of mind that I was not going to steal you away from him. I still like you, but Alex is way more into you than me. I know this is hard to take in," he paused. "Just to tell you the truth, he has been having this crush on you ever since freshmen year."

Was this seriously happening? "John, I don't want to be mean or anything but I need some time to think about this."

"That's fine," he walked down the stairs. "See you soon."

"Bye," I replied. I closed the door and looked at Jack. He was as dumfounded as I was.


	9. Couldn't Say No To Me

[John's POV]

I hated this kind of situation. It gave me so much stress. The fact that my best friend was head over heels with Adriana made me nervous. I thought we wouldn't have this kind of drama. I thought it would be different girls, different nights. Why the heck did we decided to do this whole bet? If we didn't do that, this whole situation would've happened. Damn you Adriana for being so damn attractive! It was all her fault. It was only the start of summer. We were barely out of school for a week and now we had this much problems? What was going to happen for the next three months? More problems like these? I probably should've taken Cassie's path and stayed in a foreign country for the whole summer instead of dealing with this.

Alex was sitting on the sidewalk in front of my house. "Did you see any ring on her finger?" he asked me as I approached him.

"I saw her holding a ring in her hand, but not in her finger, why?"

He let out a small smile. "Nothing I was just asking."

I gave him a strange look, but I decided not to ask any more questions. "Why do you have to be such a dumbass?" Okay I asked one, but it wasn't relevant.

"Do you remember that girl I told you about? The one who had this weird laugh, but she was pretty hot?" I nodded. "Well, I never slept with her. She thought I did because she was so wasted, but I never did. The vibrator did the work for me."

"What?" I gave him the strangest look. Was he really telling the truth? "Why did you use the vibrator? She was just right there."

"I know but I didn't feel like doing it at that time. You know it's tiring."

This day was just weirder and dramatic. "You know, you didn't answer my question. Why do you have to be such a dumbass? There are so many fucking girls out there that want you and yet you're still waiting around for that one girl who probably doesn't like you back. I like her too, but we have to move on."

Alex stared off into space. I've never seen him like this before. He was always the type of girl who would move one after a break up and hook up with another girl. There was something about Adriana that I was not seeing. Okay, she was different than other girls. She took relationships seriously, but was there more than this traditional, laid-back girl that was making Alex like this? I sat down next to Alex on the sidewalk, staring at the blank sky. An airplane passed by and I started humming the song "Airplanes" by B.o.B. I guess I was really into it since Alex interrupted me.

"Can you shut up?"

I shut my mouth and stood up. Alex was left there still sitting on the sidewalk while I walked back to my house.

Fuck this summer.

[Adriana's POV]

I walked out of my house, heading to Alex's place. I wanted to talk to him ASAP, after the whole discussion with John. Jack went off somewhere to meet up with some guy he met at a guitar shop. He said he was overwhelmed with estrogen drama that he needed to take a piece of testosterone. Very interesting, but very weird… I liked that boy.

As I was heading towards Alex's place, I ended up seeing him sitting down on the sidewalk in front of John's house. Why was he doing that? I ran up to him. "Alex!" I yelled. "What the hell are you doing?"

He looked up and saw me running towards him. He stood up and walked towards me. "I was just thinking. That's all," he replied calmly.

I stopped in front of him. He was looking at my hands, I guess trying to find the ring. "It's around my necklace if you're trying to find it," I explained. I pulled out my necklace, the ring dangling from it. "I'm not much of a ring person."

He smiled. "So…does that mean you're giving me another chance?"

I nodded. "I want to get to know you more and see where this is going," I gave him a hug. "I think we have to start over," I looked at him. His eyes were looking deeply into mine and his arms were wrapped around me. I felt short of breath and he laughed.

"Maybe we should split this up before you're going to have trouble breathing."

"Whatever," I playfully pushed him. "Do you want to try this again?"

Alex nodded. "Hey my name is Alexander William Gaskarth and I'm not really good at making you like me," he held out his hand.

I shook it and smiled. "I'm Adriana Nicole Cartwright and I'm not really sure if I should like you or not."

We both laughed. "Well… Miss Cartwright, I will change your mind," Alex kissed me on the forehead and tried to kiss me on the lips before I stopped him.

"Hold on, buddy," my hand was on his lips. "I thought we only first met. You can't expect me to kiss you right away."

He held my hand and kissed it. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"I was raised that way," I replied. I checked the time. It was getting late.

"You should come to my place. My parents are out of town so we can do whatever we want," I raised an eyebrow, but he continued. "You know I would do things that you couldn't say no to."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because I'm cute," Alex grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, just promise you'll get me home safe tonight."

"I promise I'll get you home safe tonight."

I walked with him to his house. I couldn't believe I was going through with this.


	10. I Want To

[Adriana's POV]

What did I almost just do? Apparently I knew exactly what I almost did. I was so close to it, to him. Holy crap, that man knew how to do it. Luckily I escaped. Luckily the smart side of me decided that what was going on was not suppose to happen. I locked myself into the bathroom. I couldn't exactly escape since all my clothes were in his room. He was probably waiting on the other side of this door, trying to figure out what to say to me. I could hear his breathing. I felt his presence. I wrapped myself in a towel that was in the bathroom. I slowly opened the door, still sitting down on the floor. I saw Alex sitting on the floor as well, but he was naked. Great, my temptations were erupting again, but I tried to ignore them.

He leaned in. "I'm sorry. I should've forced you into this. It just got way out of hand."

I backed away from him. "Can you bring my clothes to me, please?"

He nodded and stood up. I closed the door and stood up. That was a close one. Jack was right. I couldn't go on with this. I felt disgusted but at the same time, I wanted it. This was not part of the plan. I wasn't supposed to fall for him, but instead my whole heart was with him. It needed to stop. If I didn't stop, I would be like any other girl at Hawthorne…no offense to Cassie.

Alex walked in the bathroom with his shirt and jeans on. He gave me my clothes and walked out again. I wore all my clothes and walked out of the bathroom. I was pretty nervous to step back in his room again. He was waiting for me in his room. "Do you keep your promises?" I asked and he nodded. "Can you take me home safe tonight then?"

"Yeah," Alex mumbled. He grabbed his hoodie and walked with me out of the house.

We both stayed in silence as we headed towards my place. My place was seven blocks away from his house and the pace we were walking was pretty slow it was going to be a long walk. There was this one foot gap between us. "Alex," I broke the silence. "I don't think this is going to work out," he didn't say anything. "I mean, if this relationship is going to be revolved around sex and nothing else, I don't want to continue on with this."

"I understand," Alex replied. "I'm sorry." He tried to wrap his arm around me but I moved away.

"We need to stop this immediately," I explained.

He sighed. "Why do you want to stop this now? I only made one mistake to you and that was tonight. I'm sorry from the depths of my soul that I did that to you," He held my arm. I tried to break free but his grip was strong. We both stopped walking.

"You made more than just one mistake, Alex. You slept with my best friend; you were a douche bag to everyone, you used ever—"

"How does that apply to you? Was I douche bag to you in school? I never talked to you! The only time I ever talked to you in school was when we were partners for the homework fair in Physics and that was only a five minute activity. What I do to other people doesn't affect you. Maybe the whole thing with Cassie affected to you, but that was the only thing."

"Then why are you talking to me now? Why does this summer make any difference to the previous summer vacations that we had?" Alex loosened his grip on me as I continued. "We live in same fucking neighborhood. We went to the same elementary and middle school and high school. Shit, we even went to the camp together for the whole summer in the 10th grade and not one time you approached me unless you had to and I was fine with it. Now please explain to me why you decided to walk up to me at the park and even heckled me with the Cassie situation at the mall. Why did you decide to talk to me now after 12 years of silence?"

Alex didn't say anything and I rolled my eyes.

"All you wanted to do was to sleep with the only girl in our class who would never fall for you," I walked away. Alex tried to stop me.

"Adriana, I—"

"Save it, Gaskarth," I ran home. I wanted to run away from all of this. I didn't want to deal with this anymore.

I heard extra footsteps behind me and I had a feeling it was Alex chasing me.

I increased my speed and ran down the street. I leaped over the fence of my yard and went inside the house. I locked the door and ran up the stairs to my room. The person kept slamming on the front door.

"Adriana!" the voice yelled. The voice was not Alex, it was…Jack?

I ran down the stairs and opened the door. It was Jack. Alex was nowhere in sight.

"Jack," I embraced him in my arms.

He hugged me back. "I saw someone chasing you and ran out of my house. Before I could even reach the dude, he ran off," he cupped my face in his hands. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah I'm fine," I let Jack inside the house. We both sat down on the couch.

"Who the hell was chasing you?" Jack asked.

"It was Alex. He got into an argument and I wanted to run away from him," I looked at him. "I'm going to stop this."

"Yeah," he replied. "I don't want this to ruin your summer."

I nodded and rested my head on his shoulder. "Maybe you need to go to home. It's getting late."

He held my hand. "I'll stay here with you," I raised my head on his shoulder and looked at him.

"You don't have to."

Jack leaned in closer, making his head touch mine. "I want to," he whispered.

**Man, this took me a while to update this! I was completely stuck on where this story was going. I had four chapters written out already and I erased them all. I have the next chapter currently written and if I'm lucky, it will be posted this week as well. I hope this was worth the wait! :)**


	11. This is Not Awkward at All

[John's POV]

Something triggered me to go to Adriana's house this morning. I didn't know why, but it was like I needed to go there. Maybe something happened between Alex and her because I saw them walking off together yesterday. Maybe something bad happened. I quickly dressed up and walked out of my house, heading to Adriana's. I wasn't sure why I was acting like this. I felt some kind of bad vibe going on and I wanted to confirm it.

I walked up to the front door of Adriana's place and knocked on her door.

Adriana opened the door and was surprised to see me. "Uh…good morning," she greeted. She was wearing boys clothes which seemed kind of odd, but I ignored thought.

"Hey, how's it going?" I asked.

"Everything's alright, I guess," she looked behind me. "Alex is not with you, right?"

"He's not with me," Adriana gestured me to come in her house. I walked in and sat in the dining room. "I just wanted to know if there's anything going on."

"Between me and Alex?" she asked as she was cooking something in the kitchen. "There's nothing going on with me and him anymore."

"Oh, uh, sorry about that," I scratched my head.

"Don't be. Actually, be happy for me that I ended it with him," I heard footsteps coming from the upper level.

I looked up at the ceiling. "Is your parents here?"

Adriana gave me a strange expression. "No, they're on vacation. Why?"

"It's just…"

"Hey Adriana, where do you put…" the guy trailed off when he saw me.

Well, this was awkward. About ten feet away from me was a lanky dude with no clothes on except a towel around his waist on the staircase of Adriana's house. He gave me a strange look then it turned into a glare. I didn't even know this guy. Did Alex know about this guy?

"Umm…" I slid out of my chair. "If I'm interrupting anything, I must be going," I headed towards the door.

"Wait," Adriana followed me. "You can stay for breakfast."

I shook my head. "It's fine. The only reason why I came here is to check up on you to see if you were alright."

She smiled and gave me a hug. "Thank you."

I hugged her back. "No problem," she pulled away. "If you need anything, just call me up, okay?"

Adriana nodded. "Are you sure you don't want to stay?"

"I'm sure. I need to go somewhere anyway," she nodded as I opened the door. "See you later," I walked out.

"Bye, John," Adriana replied.

I lied. I wasn't going anywhere after this. I just wanted to avoid the half-naked dude that was standing in the staircase. That guy glared at me. Did he know who I was? I've never seen him in my life. I wondered if Alex knew him. Possibly since he hung out with her much more than me. Was that her new man so she could get over Alex? That dude should've been me. I would've looked way better in a towel than him. I shouldn't think about this. Adriana was Alex's girl, not mine. I needed to find a way to make up again instead of tearing them apart. Man, I shouldn't be worrying about this now since all of my problems were solved. That situation with me knocking up a chick was not true. Some other dude knocked her up. I should be popping champagne right now, but instead I was drowning myself in other people's problems. At least I cared about other people.

I went over to Alex's house and knocked on the door. His mom answered.

"Good morning, John," Mrs. Gaskarth greeted. "How are you?"

"I'm doing fine, Mrs. G," I smiled. "Is Alex home?"

She shook her head. "He left early this morning to go to Adriana's place."

I looked at her weird. "To go to Adriana's? I was there a couple of minutes ago and I didn't see him there."

"Hmm…" she wondered. "Maybe he already stopped by. He probably went to the park. You know he likes that place."

"Yeah," I nodded. "Well, I better get going then. Bye, Mrs. Gaskarth," I ran down the steps.

"Bye, John," Mrs. Gaskarth waved goodbye.

I knew Alex was not at the park. He must be hiding in Adriana's house or at least outside of it.

I walked back to Adriana's place to check and there he was behind the bushes of her house. He was easily seen since he was wearing all black on broad daylight. I sneaked up to him. Alex had binoculars to look through the windows of her house. This was a whole new level of stalking.

"That asshole," Alex muttered to himself. He must be talking about the mystery dude. "Get your hands off her, you dick!"

"So this is what they call love," I hollered.

I startled Alex and I began to laugh. He threw his binoculars at me and stood up. "What the hell are you doing here? Didn't you already visit her?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," I threw the binoculars back at Alex. "You need to stop this, man. This is getting way out of hand."

Alex snorted. "No it's not."

"Really? So you're saying that spying on someone is a normal act of love?"

He pushed me. "You know, just get out of here! I don't want to deal with you anymore," he went back to his position behind the bushes.

I sighed and went back to my place.

When I got into the house, I sat down on the couch, thinking how it all came to place. This was not how I expected summer to be. This on simple competition turned into a nightmare and I was a part of it. I was a part of a continuous cycle of drama and weirdness that surrounded me, Alex, Adriana and this random dude that came into the mix. I dreaded it. It was only the beginning of July and everything was all messed up. How could this happen?

Adriana happened.

**It's still a mystery of what happened between Jack and Adriana, but you'll find out soon. Sorry this is sort of a boring chapter. By the way, thanks to everyone who is reading this story (especially the two: amieloryn and Lost in Stereo Sound, who reviewed my story)! You guys are all awesome!**


	12. I Just Wanna Run, Hiding Away

[Adriana's POV]

Alex was not as slick as he thought. I could see his binoculars peering through the bushes of my house. I wanted to go out there and slap him across the head, but that would be a waste of energy. Instead, I flirted a little with Jack so Alex could get heated behind the bushes. Jack played along and we were both enjoying it. I was so phased out with the whole Alex situation that I never seen Jack through a romantic perspective. He was a great friend, but did he have feelings for me? It was hard to tell now, but he did spend the night with me and well, he did kiss me but only on the forehead. That could've been a friend kiss to make me feel better. It wasn't like I slept with the guy, even though John might have that thought since Jack wore nothing but a towel around his waist when he came over this morning. I didn't know. Maybe that whole thing last night was him being a good friend.

I stood in the dining room, looking outside the window. Was Alex still there behind the bushes? Jack stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Do you think he's still there?" Jack asked.

I shrugged. "It doesn't matter. He knows I'm over him," I looked back at him. "Maybe we can stop playing now?"

He pouted. "But I don't want to."

I laughed and pulled away from his grip. "We can't be pretending all the time."

Jack gazed at me. "So what if we don't pretend?" he asked.

My throat tightened up and my heart was beating fast. "Well…," I rubbed my arm. "I'm not sure," I walked over to the fridge to get something to drink. I couldn't talk right. I needed a minute to think about this. I felt Jack walking towards me and that made me drop my soda. "Shit," I muttered. I closed the fridge and bent down to pick it up, but Jack grabbed it first. I looked up at him and he didn't look too happy.

"You're not sure?" he handed me the soda.

I sighed. "It's just…I already went through enough for one summer and I'm not sure if I want to go down that path again," I got up.

Jack bit his lip and shook his head. "You know I won't hurt you like Alex did. Is it because you still have feelings for him?"

I gave him a puzzled look. "No!" I yelled.

"Then why can't you be with me?"

"Because…"

"Because what?"

"Because I…," I couldn't finish it. Instead I ran out of the house.

"Wait!" Jack yelled, but I kept running. That was the only thing I was good at. Running away when I couldn't handle the problems. I wanted to run far away.

I heard extra footsteps behind me. I looked back.

It was Alex.

"Why are you running away?" he yelled.

"It's none of your—ugh!" I collided into someone and fell back on the sidewalk. I couldn't see who it was since the sun was in my eyes. The person bent down and I saw John's hazel green eyes staring down at me.

"Are you okay?" He placed his hand behind my head and raised it. Alex came beside him.

John helped me get up. I rubbed my head. "My fucking head hurts," I checked my hand to see if there was bleeding. Luckily there wasn't any.

"Why the hell were you running away?" Alex asked.

"Why the hell you were spying on me?" I rolled my eyes.

John laughed. "Can't you guys get along?"

"No," I replied sternly.

Alex's eyes narrowed. "Will you at least answer my question?"

"Not if you answer mine first."

He grunted. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"You should've just come to the house."

"You probably wouldn't open the door when I came or maybe if you were to open the door, you would smack me across the face."

I shrugged. "True."

He rolled his eyes. "There, I answered your question. Will you answer mine?"

I crossed my arms. "It's none of your business," John turned to me.

"Does it have to do with the naked dude?"

Alex's eyes widened. "What the fuck? What naked dude?" he held my shoulders. "There was a naked dude in your house?"

I glared at him. "I thought you would have known that since you were spying on me! But to answer your question, John, yeah it was the naked dude that made me run away," I moved Alex's hands away from my shoulder. "That naked dude happens to be Jack."

"Hold on," Alex interjected. "Did he stay in your house overnight?"

I nodded casually. "Yeah, he stayed at my house last night."

John raised an eyebrow. "Did something happen between you two?"

"Maybe," I looked straight at Alex and walked away. I wasn't going to tell them about last night…like anything happened anyway.

I heard Alex yelling something at me, but John must have stopped him. I continued to walk back home. I needed to stop running away from everything. This time, I was going to answer Jack.

Jack was waiting for me by the doorway. He walked over to me and pulled me into a hug.

This time, I was not going to run away.


	13. Overnight Sensation

[Alex's POV]

I walked away when Adriana ran back in the arms of that motherfucker Jack. John was yelling something to me, but I ignored him. I wanted to be alone. Fuck this whole summer. I should be getting laid, but instead Adriana led me to do abstinence. I needed to throw a party so I could forget all of these things. I walked back to my house and called my parents. They were out somewhere and told me they weren't going to home until morning since it was some business thing. They were two hours away from here, so that meant I had the whole house to myself. I called people from school to come over tonight as well as some girls from the private schools.

John came in the house after I called everyone.

"Have you ever tried knocking on the door?"

John shrugged. "I like to make a grand entrance," he flopped down on the couch. "I heard that you're throwing a party tonight."

"Hell yeah," I sat across from him.

"Are you going to invite Adriana?"

I smirked. "Yeah…I'll invite her," this was going to be total revenge over all of this bullshit.

The house was packed when the clock struck ten. Everyone was wasted, including me. I possibly made out with 14 girls already…maybe more and John was making out with this ugly-ass chick on the couch for the longest time. It was like they were fucking except they still had their clothes on. So sickening. The only person that wasn't here yet was…

Adriana walked in the house with a dark green tube dress, showing off her flawless body. Her wavy brown hair rested on her shoulders as she walked through the room. Jack wasn't with her. She was alone. That surprised me. I thought they were going to be the perfect couple, but here she was. Dateless. When she looked at me, I turned away. I didn't want to see her. Why the hell did I invite her here? I walked to the living room and sat down on the loveseat, witnessing my friend having indirect sex. I glanced over at Adriana, who was drinking some beer in the kitchen. She looked over to me and stared. It was a seductive stare. It was like one of those looks I would give to the girls I wanted to mess around with, but the look she gave me was pushing me to bend her over. I shouldn't have invited her.

I took a shot and walked over to John. The girl he was making out with passed out on the floor. Lack of air, possibly?

John laughed as I pulled him up by the collar.

"What the hell man?" he slurred. His eyes shifted from mine to someone behind me. "Who's that hot chick in the green dress?"

I pushed John. "That's Adriana, you dumbass," I stumbled a little bit. "I can't believe you made me invite her. Now all I want to do is fuck her."

"Then do it," he pushed me back. "Before I do."

I fell on top of the coffee table and everyone began laughing. Adriana ran over to me and helped me up. "Are you okay?"

I stared at her. Her presence was killing me. Her soft hands held my arm as I got up. She walked me towards the bedroom that was across the bathroom. By the way she was acting; she wasn't completely wasted, maybe a little buzzed.

She laid me down on the bed and then sat at the side. She looked sad.

I grabbed her arm. "Lay down beside me," Adriana followed my order and rested her head on my chest. I wrapped my arm around her. "Where's Jack?"

"Are you really going to ask me about him?" Adriana asked sarcastically. "I don't want to talk about it."

I rolled over so she was lying on the bed while I was on top of her. I leaned in and began kissing her neck. Her arms made me lean in closer. Her scent was intoxicating and it made me want more of her. I unzipped her dress as she took of my shirt. Her hands traveled down to my pants and took them off. I reached over to the bedside table to get a condom and wore it as she was kissing my chest. I was losing my breath. She was inside of me and I liked it that way. I didn't fucking care if we made so much noise. I wanted people to hear that she was my girl. Not Jack's girl or John's girl. She was mine.

[John's POV]

Alex was definitely fucking Adriana. They couldn't stop screaming each other's names and they were rampaging inside the room. It was like war in there except it was better. Screw the both of them. I didn't like her anyways. I walked over to this drunken brunette who was blabbering about blow jobs. I tapped her on the shoulders.

"Hey," I smiled drunkenly. "Wanna fuck me?"

Right when I said "fuck," she jumped on me and began kissing my lips.

I pushed her off. "Hold on! We have to go somewhere private before we start fucking!"

"All the rooms are taken."

I pulled her down the hall. "Bathroom. The people can piss in the garden," I pulled her into the bathroom and locked the door.

Alex was not the only one getting some ass tonight.

**Sorry for the long updates! I didn't know where I wanted the story to go until now. Way too many f-bombs in this chapter! Hehe, thanks for reading!**


	14. Many Questions, No Answers, Just Love

[John's POV]

My eyes were blinded from the light coming from the bedroom. The girl I hooked up with left. Did we even do it? My shirt was off, but my pants were still on. I probably passed out before we did anything or vomited all over her. I hated being so drunk.

As I got up from the bathroom floor, I saw a silhouette of someone coming out of the bedroom. My eyes were still blurring so I couldn't identify who the person was.

"Wait," I mumbled. The figure stopped and walked over to me. As the figure got closer, I knew who it was. "Adriana? Why did you…" She placed a finger on my lips and shook her head. I moved her finger away from my lips. "Are you going home?" She nodded. This was weird. She wasn't really speaking to me. She was only giving me signs as an answer. I grabbed my shirt and wore it. "I'm coming with you."

"No, John. You don't have to. It's alright," Adriana whispered. By the look in her eyes, nothing seemed alright.

I stood up. "Come on," I pulled her up beside me. "I'm taking you home." Before she could say anything, I held her hand and made our way to the front door.

The house was a freaking mess. All of the party cups were scattered everywhere as beer bottles piled up in the kitchen sink. Some people left already, but others were still passed out on the couches, dining room table, and pretty much every corner of this house. I wasn't going to help Alex clean this mess up. He needed to take responsibility on all the mess he created.

We walked out of the house and took our time as we headed to Adriana's house. I glanced over at her and she looked sad, guilty and pissed all at the same time. Did she really want to do Alex or was Alex a decoy to make her forget someone else?

"How are you and Jack?" I broke the silence as we walked pass still houses.

She sighed heavily and never responded. She continued staying silent like she didn't hear me.

"Okay, um, why did you…"

"Jack and I are just friends, okay?" she replied quietly. "There's nothing between us."

"But I thought you and Jack hooked up the other day? Was that a lie?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"So why did you hook up with…"

"Are you interrogating me right now because I don't feel like talking about this," Adriana snapped. "I fucked up, okay," she crossed her arms as we paced down the neighborhood.

"I'm sorry I was being annoying. I just don't understand. I thought you like Jack."

"Whatever," she muttered. She was probably PMS-ing or something like that. It must be the hormones talking.

We walked up to her house and she stopped in the front door and looked over to me.

"Thanks for taking me home," her lips formed into a smile. "I'm sorry that I yelled at you back there."

I grinned. "It's alright. I was the annoying one back there," I pulled her into a hug. "Things will get better okay?"

She nodded. "I hope so."

[Adriana's POV]

John walked back to his place while I went in my house. My head was in pain so I went upstairs to lie down on my bed. So much happening and I didn't know what was going on with me. I liked two different guys, maybe three. Damn, I was messed up. I couldn't like three guys. Two of them I didn't really like. It was a temporary feeling while this one guy was glued to me. He was trapped inside my head and I could never forget him.

I got up, deciding to take a shower. Maybe I could wash all these feelings away. I never planned on this to happen. This was not what I wanted.

I turned on the shower and stepped inside. I closed my eyes. Was this a continuous reverie? Was I in a coma and didn't know it? I couldn't answer any questions. They were all a mystery to me.

I got out and wore a worn-out black shirt with dark blue skinny jeans. I needed to talk to Jack about all of this. I ran down the stairs and out of the house. Jack was doing yard work. There were no cars in the garage so I meant he was the only one there.

Jack saw me coming over. "Why are you here?" he asked in an unwelcoming tone.

"Jack please. Can you hear me out?"

He glared at me. "You're just using me, Adriana. It's obvious. I know you still like him," he gazed at my eyes. "He fucked you up, didn't he?" I stayed silent. "This is all so predictable. He fucked you up and you regretted the fact you went to the party to the first place. You're here now to tell me all about it and you want us to be friends again, right?"

"Aren't we still friends?" I felt tears coming through my eyes. Jack looked away from me.

"Just go," he mumbled.

I stormed out of his front yard and went to the park. I sat down on the bleachers and began crying my eyes out. I wished I could escape from all of this. This was a never ending problem that never went away. I buried my face in my hands as the tears streamed down from my eyes to my arms. All of these tears represented everything that crumbled to pieces. This was where it all started, in this very fucking place. If I didn't come here, would all of the things that happened to me exist? I couldn't turn back now. It was too late. I heard footsteps coming behind me. I didn't bother to look up. I just cried.

The person sat down beside me and wrapped their arms around me. I placed my head on their chest and began crying more. I never cared who it was. I just needed someone to be with me.

"I fucked up," I choked out. "I don't want to be here anymore. I just want to escape this town and never look back."

The person kept rubbing my back. "I don't want you to leave me," he wiped the tears off my eyes. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

When I saw who it was, I smiled and hugged him. "I thought you…I thought you hated me."

He shook his head and moved my hair out of my face. "I can never hate you. Maybe be pissed off at you for some things, but I'll always be there for you, okay?" he kissed my forehead. "Let's go home," he held my hand as we walked back home.

I looked up at him. "Are we friends or…" we both glanced down at our hands that were intertwined together.

He laughed. "If you want to be more, we can be."

I kissed him on the cheek. "I want to."

Jack smiled as we walked back to my place.

**This story is almost wrapping up. Possibly three chapters to go at the least and maybe a sequel to this, too if you guys want a sequel. Thanks for reading!**


	15. One Story Closes, Another Story Opens

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who have read this story from beginning to end and a special thanks to the people who have reviewing/commenting as well. The comments have been helpful to me in order to finish this story. I know I said that there will be three more chapters to this, but I didn't want the story to drag on. I thought this was the appropriate time to wrap this story up. Again, thank you for reading this story and I hope you like the ending. :)**

[Alex's POV]

"She's with that asshole again!" I screamed through the phone. I didn't care if John was going deaf with my constant yelling. I just couldn't believe that Adriana went back to Jack again. From what I've learned now, she was indecisive on who she wanted to be with.

John sighed. "I saw them walking from the park to possibly her house," I grunted. "I think they're official, man."

"No," I disagreed. "How can she sleep with me last night and then decided to be with Jack instead? Is he better in bed than me?"

"Umm…" John trailed off. "I almost forgot to tell you one more thing. They never slept together."

My eyes widened. "What? I thought that day when she collided into you…wait. She was lying the whole time?"

"I don't know man, but that was the thing she told me. You got to move on."

I bit my lip. "We'll see. See ya later."

"See ya," he hung up the phone.

I stood up from my bed and walked out of bedroom. I forced the other people who were left at the house this morning to clean up the mess. Hopefully they didn't miss any spots. I sat down on the living couch and stared at the blank television. Last night was so amazing, but now everything was back to the way it was. My original plan of making her jealous completely back fired. Now I was the one who was jealous. A part of me wanted to storm to her house and beat the shit out of her man, but another part of me wanted to do something else. Maybe that was better.

I lay on the sofa, looking through the blank ceiling. This whole summer I wanted Adriana to be mine and right when I had her around my finger, Jack came along. That son of a bitch. He should move back to whatever place he came from. I might not fight Jack or argue with Adriana for now. I wanted to savor these last weeks of summer, but when September came around and the school bell rings, hell would break lose.

This game was not over yet; it just started.

[John's POV]

That was it. This was over. Jack and Adriana was officially a couple. Alex was alone and I was no longer in the middle of this anymore. I officially backed out of this soap opera and threw in the towel. After weeks of drama and weirdness, this whole madness (for now) was officially over. Alex called me and asked me what happened to Adriana. I told him what I saw earlier in the day. Jack and Adriana were holding hands possibly going back to her place. Alex was in shock and realized that the girl of his dreams played him. Karma was a bitch to him, but he deserved it. I learned my lesson and now I was different. I was not going to use a girl to satisfy my pleasures…unless if I was completely wasted, but that was a whole other story. All in all, school was going to be interesting in September, especially with all of this crap happening. Hopefully I wouldn't be caught in the middle this time. Hopefully Alex wouldn't do some stupid crap, but I was going to prepare for it.

After all, if he didn't get what he wanted, he would do anything in order to get it back.

[Adriana' POV]

After looking back this summer, the plan on breaking Alex's heart was accomplished. Here I was with Jack after sleeping with Alex. I have done the same thing he has done to other girls. I used him. I stooped to his level without even realizing it. I felt uneasy and not really sure why I was here with Jack. I didn't deserve him. He deserved way better than me. I used him, too. When Alex was hurting me, he was there, but when Alex came back around, I left him. I was almost the girl version of Alex. At the park, however, Jack confessed that he would always be there for me and that he didn't hate me for everything I've done to him. This guy gave his heart to me and I accepted it. I didn't really know if Alex knew I was with Jack now. There was a possibility that John told Alex about it since he saw me with Jack. I didn't care now. All of this was finish. Now, I could focus on enjoying the rest of my summer. I wasn't worried about senior year. Maybe there would be gossip spreading around about me hooking up with Alex during the party, but who cared. I was like the rest of the girls now and happily dating someone I truly adored. Alex was nothing but a phase in my life that I regretted going through. He played me and I fell for it.

The necklace with the ring that Alex gave me was still around my neck strangely enough. Eventually, I would give this back to him, but for now I removed it and kept it inside my jewelry box under the countless necklaces I had in there. It was so weird how this whole thing began with attending a baseball game. If I never attended that game, would all of this mess still happen? There was a big possibility that it wouldn't happen, but who knew? Maybe this was bound to happen. It was a test to see if I could resist the manwhore. Obviously I didn't, but I escaped from him. He was no longer in my life now. I haven't seen him ever since the party. Deep inside, that worried me. Did Alex have something up his sleeve? Was he planning a scheme?

I needed to let go of that thought. For now, I was with Jack and I needed to enjoy life with him for once. If Alex did have something up his sleeve, he better be careful.

I was ready for anything.


End file.
